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BK. XLIII.
SHÊ 1.
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(the hall), descends (again), and exacts the forfeit of drinking. In his contention, he is still the superior man 1'
12. Confucius said, 'How difficult it is to shoot! How difficult it is to listen (to the music)! To shoot exactly in harmony with the note (given) by the music, and to shoot without missing the bull'seye on the target :-it is only the archer of superior virtue who can do this! How shall a man of inferior character be able to hit the mark? It is said in the Book of Poetry (II, viii, ode 6, 1), "" Now shoot,” he says, “and show your skill.”
The other answers, “ Shoot I will, And hit the mark ;-and when you miss,
Pray you the penal cup to kiss.". "To pray'is to ask. The archer seeks to hit that he may decline the cup. The liquor in the cup is designed (properly) to nourish the aged, or the sick. When the archer seeks to hit that he may decline the cup, that is declining what should serve to nourish (those that need it).
See Confucian Analects, III, vii.
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